Adopted Love
by stephfarrow94
Summary: Zetsu was adopted by Pein to be trained as a ninja for the Akatsuki. After an unfortunate incident between Madara and Zetsu, Zetsu wont leave Pein's side. Will their friendship remain the same or will it be something more?
1. Chapter 1

Words like _freak, _and _monster, _were words that Zetsu was used to hearing directed at him. Hell, he was even used to being called things like _experiment-gone-wrong_, and he just couldn't imagine anyone saying anything other than an insult to him. He was used to people saying they wished he would die, but when Pein found him, things weren't so bad. Pein was kind to him and treated him like something more than a freak. That's what Zetsu had felt when Pein took him home.

-LINEBREAK-

"Run away!"

A group of girls shouted as they saw Zetsu approaching them. The girls screamed, running back towards the orphanage building, leaving a hurt Zetsu in their dust. Zetsu didn't understand why everyone ran away from him – he only wanted to be friends! But… they always acted like Zetsu would kill them and then devour their corpses. Zetsu just couldn't understand what he had done to make people fear him like this.

"_Why...?" _Zetsu whispered to himself, wiping his tears away. _"Why do they treat us like... like a freak? _**We **_**are **_**a freak... that's all we are to the others... they don't care who we are inside, but only who we are on the **_**outside**_**. **_We can't... we can't help that... that we're like this, but... I wish we were someone else." _

Zetsu sat on the cold pavement, sobbing, whispering a conversation between his two halves, knowing that all of the other kids and even the orphanage staff watched him with resentment in their eyes. He was just a waste of space to the others – something that should've been murdered as soon as it took its first breath.

On adoption days, all of the kids but himself were lined up, hoping that it would finally be their turn to be adopted... all except for poor Zetsu. No… Zetsu would sit in his bedroom and cry to himself as he always did when he was forbidden from having any social experiences.

The bell soon rang, breaking Zetsu from his thoughts and signalling that it was time for dinner. Zetsu sighed, knowing that he was to go straight to his room - he wasn't allowed to eat with the other kids.

It was always the same old, same old... he would be sealed away from the rest of the world, only being allowed out of his room once a week to play outside and get some fresh air. Zetsu knew that the next adoption day was tomorrow, and seeing as he was already rather saddened, this fact brought him to tears.

_"When will it be our turn?" _Zetsu sobbed to his darker half. **"Who knows…? Maybe never... but if that's the case we only have to wait for ten more years before we turn eighteen and can leave forever."**

Zetsu nodded, entering his bedroom and closing his door behind him, jumping onto his hard bed and pulling the covers up and over him, trying to block out the horrid cold that was always his room.

_"Maybe tomorrow someone will take us home..." _ Zetsu whispered hopefully as he yawned and closed his eyes, not hungry enough just yet to stay awake and wait for his cold food. **"Just don't get your hopes up..."**

-LINEBREAK-

Zetsu sat at his window, watching all of the adults walk up the path to the orphanage, smiles and happy expressions on their faces. He wished with all of his being that at least one of those people would be here for him - but Zetsu knew that it was impossible. Zetsu sobbed quietly, jumping back onto his bed and crying into his covers. He hated this place, hated this village, but most of all, he hated himself. He despised his life and wanted to die. He wished that there someone to love him, but it seemed to be impossible given his current lifestyle. Especially his looks - who could love an Oreo-coloured plant?

**-XX-**

When Zetsu knew that most of the adults would already have left with their new child in tow, he dared look back out of his window, watching the darkening horizon, closing his flytrap slightly from the chill. Absorbed in the night sky, he didn't hear a knock on his bedroom door. He only snapped back to reality as it swung open, the hinges creaking loudly in protest.

Zetsu turned to the door, slight fear in his features, and the man and woman with the orphanage worker could sense it. Zetsu looked over the two newcomers, and he couldn't help but think that though the woman looked very pretty with her blue hair and paper flower in the bun atop her head, the man that was with her looked rather scary with all of his piercings.

"This is him..." The worker said quietly, disgusted at being forced to show someone so vile to a potential buyer. "I told you that you wouldn't want him, but -"

"Shh!" The strange woman snapped, angry eyes on the worker. "He's only a boy!"

The woman turned back to smile at Zetsu and Zetsu felt himself blush, closing his flytrap completely in shyness.

The man laughed. He walked into the room, sitting down next to Zetsu and putting a hand on the flytrap. He felt the plant shiver in response.

"Hi." The man introduced softly. "My name is Pein... and this is my friend, Konan... What is your name, young one?"

Zetsu opened the plant a crack, peeping out warily. "Z...Zetsu..." He whispered, looking at the ground.

"Zetsu... what a nice name." The man – Pein - smiled genuinely. He beckoned for Konan to come by his side and she did, kneeling down next to Pein, smiling also.

"We're looking for a nice little child to adopt," Konan said, eyes never leaving Zetsu's golden ones, "but none of the others down stairs are what we want. When we felt your chakra we asked to see you but those jerks that take care of you kids tried to refuse."

Zetsu frowned. _"Are you going to pick someone else, too?" _He whispered.

Pain chuckled. "No, I don't think so. I think you're just what we want. What do you think, Konan?"

"Yes." Konan smiled, placing a soft hand on Zetsu's arm. "I like him."

_"You... like us? _**No, they don't - they're lying**! _But... _**You're willing to believe anything if it means leaving!** _Why did you have to talk? Now they'll think we're a freak as well and leave us here!" _

"Zetsu..." Pein said softly, reaching out and patting Zetsu's oily hair. "We don't think you're a freak at all. How about it? Want to come home with us?"

Zetsu frowned before smiling brightly. "YES!"

Konan giggled, picking the tiny boy up and carrying him out of the room. "When we get you to our home we'll feed you a big feast; you look like you could use quite a few good meals."

Zetsu grinned, hugging Konan. He had never received physical contact before unless it was to hurt him, but he had to say, hugs felt nice - like he had always dreamed that they would.


	2. Chapter 2

Zetsu whimpered as a raindrop fell onto his face and buried it further into Konan's chest. He used to really like the rain – or at least he did until the orphanage workers decided that every time it would rain they would lock Zetsu outside in it. It was enough for him to have gained a phobia of water.

Pein slowed his pace enough to be beside Konan and he looked at Zetsu. He smiled comfortingly at the small boy, but it didn't seem to be helping any. Pein frowned, motioning for Konan to hand him over to Pein, and when she did, he wrapped the kid in his raincoat with him, gently rubbing the boy's head gently.

Zetsu leant into the comforting touch, closing his eyes and resting his head on Pein's chest. He didn't know why, but being with Pein made him feel much better about a lot of things. It was the same feeling he got with Konan, but with Pein it was stronger - as if he knew that Pein would protect Zetsu from anything.

_"I love you, Pein-sama," _Zetsu yawned, smiling up at him.

Pein smiled back. "... Yeah. Go to sleep, Zetsu; we'll be there in about two more hours, okay?"

**"Okay... **_Good night."_

"Good night." Both Konan and Pein said gently.

-LINEBREAK-

The next morning Zetsu woke up to warmth, and for the first time in his entire life he woke up with a smile on his face. Snuggling in closer to the warmth he sighed in content. He could stay like this forever, but the warmth had different plans. Zetsu had been snuggling in close to Konan, but said woman was now sitting up, smiling down at Zetsu.

"Zetsu..." Konan said, picking the boy up gently and pulling him onto her lap, hugging him. "Time to get up, now. Pein will have breakfast ready for us so let's not keep him waiting, okay?"

Zetsu grinned. _"Really? B-breakfast? We've never had breakfast before, Konan-chan!___**We did once but it was stale... **_so we don't count that one!"_

Konan laughed at Zetsu's exuberance, patting the child's hair. "You're so adorable."

Zetsu smiled brightly before hugging Konan. _"We... we like hugs..." _He said shyly as he pulled back after a few moments.**"Do not. **_Do too!"_

"Zetsu, sweetie, let's go, now, okay?" Konan chuckled. "We have someone important coming over for lunch we need to get breakfast out of the way and clean up a little."

Zetsu stiffened at the mention of someone else being at the house – he didn't know why but the mere thought of someone else being around Pein and Konan - and, consequently, Zetsu – to be a serious cause for alarm. _"S-someone... else?"_

"Yes, he's a... a friend of Pein's, you could say..." Konan bit her lip, knowing that if she told Zetsu what this person was really like, it could have a very severe reaction from the boy, and not a positive one at that.

Zetsu nodded his head, deciding to trust Konan on this, no matter how terrified he felt. "We... _We trust you, Konan-chan..."_

"Please don't add honorifics to our names, Zetsu-kun." Konan said, rubbing the boy's cheek. "You don't need them with us, okay?"

Zetsu frowned before smiling again – no one had ever been so kind to him before. "Okay."

Konan smiled. "Listen – Pein and I have to go out soon on a mission and there is no way we can refuse it or abandon it – it is extremely important, but we cannot tell you why so soon. Believe me when I say that I _don't_ want to do this, but you're going to have to stay here with Madara…"

Zetsu tilted his head before smiling softly and nodding.** "Okay. **_Whatever you want, Konan."_

Konan sighed softly before smiling back. "Let's go and get breakfast now, okay? C'mon – I'll make you some eggs on toast."

With those words spoken, Zetsu had shot out of bed and into the kitchen in eagerness.

-LINEBREAK-

_"Pein...?" _Zetsu stuck his head around the door of the study just an hour later, finding Pein engrossed in a scroll.

"What is it, Zetsu-kun?" Pein asked, turning around to face the child.

_"Umm... _Your friend... the one coming over... _Is he... you know... _Nice?"

Pein frowned, unsure of how to answer the question. "Well... sometimes... I think he will be kind to you because you're only a boy."

_"What do you mean... _**Sometimes?"**

Pein sighed. "Well... he... he can be a bit on the... nasty side... I was going to talk to you about this before he came but I guess you came to me, hai?"

Zetsu smiled weakly, feeling butterflies swimming in his stomach. _"What's his name?"_

"Madara. Uchiha Madara."

_"We've never heard of him before."_

'Well, that's something to be thankful for,' Pein thought to himself. 'He doesn't know who'll be coming so that's a good thing... probably...'

Zetsuwalked into the study slowly, pulling himself up onto Pein's lap and looking at the scrolls Pein was working on. Pein didn't mind – surprisingly - and continued to go over them all with Zetsu seated firmly on his lap, observing his work.

They were like that for about an hour or two, and just when Zetsu was starting to drift off on Pein's lap, Konan came in, looking slightly distressed.

"He's here." She said so quietly that Zetsu almost didn't hear her.

Pein sighed. "Tell him that I'll be out in a minute." When Konan nodded and left, he turned to Zetsu whom was still on his lap. "I hope that you won't take this the wrong way, Zetsu, but... when Madara is around, I really, _really _need you to be quiet, okay? I hope you haven't taken offence to that..."

Zetsu shook his head, his smile still bright. _"I haven't."_

"Good... And if Madara talks to you, you need to be quiet and formal in your manners, okay?"

Zetsu nodded and Pein wished he could tell Zetsu why he had to be so... so un-Zetsu-like around Madara. He knew that he couldn't - he would only scare Zetsu off if he told the boy what a monster Madara was.

"Pein, hurry the fuck up!"

Zetsu heard an unfamiliar voice shouting from the living room and he flinched in fear.

Pein noticed this and sighed, his expression somewhat apologetic. "Come along, Zetsu-kun."

Zetsu nodded, clambering off of Pein's lap and holding the male's hand tightly as they walked to the living room. When they got there, Zetsu noticed a male - only a little bit taller than Pein himself - with long black, spiky hair and red eyes. Zetsu whimpered, hiding behind Pein.

"Who's this, Pein?" Madara asked thought his voice was disinterested.

"This is Zetsu," Pein said quietly, trying to shove the boy out front. "Say hi, Zetsu-kun."

"H-hi, Madara-sama…" Zetsu bowed quickly before scurrying back behind Pein, not liking Madara one bit.

Madara ignored Zetsu for the most part, instead turning to Konan. "Damnit, Konan, where's our coffees?"

Konan didn't even flinch. "The water's heating, Madara-_sama." _She spat out the honorific as if it were poison on her tongue.

Madara glared at the woman. Pein shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Madara-sama, are you still taking care of Zetsu-kun…?" The ginger asked warily.

Madara smirked. "Sure, I'll still take care of him. We'll have such _fun _together, won't we, Zetsu-kun?" Zetsu whimpered quietly before nodding, avoiding all eye contact. "What was that, Zetsu? I didn't hear you."

"_Y-yes..." _Zetsu whispered.

"Yes, what?"

**"Yes, **_sir..." _Zetsu whispered, eyes welling up in fear.

Pein shook his head, knowing that nothing good was to come out of this, but he had no other choice. When he had adopted Zetsu he didn't think that he would have to deal with this so suddenly, but Madara decided to invite himself over so soon to discuss 'their' organisation-in-progress – leaving himself the only plausible option for babysitting, no matter how much Pein and Konan didn't want to do it.

"Zetsu-kun," Pein called, seriousness in his voice, "come with me while I get our things ready."

_"Yes, Pein." _Zetsu obediently followed Pein without a moment's hesitation - he was just glad to get away from the scary man.

Pein was sure to shut their door behind them loud enough for Madara to hear it – an unvoiced command to be left alone - and turned to Zetsu. He took the boy's face in his hands.

"Zetsu, listen to me." He said sternly. "Madara isn't someone I would trust with you alone but we have no other choice. I'm going to be serious here - Madara might hurt you - badly."

Zetsu whimpered loudly, clutching Pein's handtightly. He didn't want to be left alone with the creepy man – not at _all._

Pein continued, his heart breaking at the uncomfortable look on Zetsu's face. "If he hurts you I want you to tell me the second we come back home, okay? And if he... touches you in inappropriate places -"

"Pein, fucking hurry the hell up!" Madara called through the door, voice muffled by the thick wood. "Some of us have lives and want to get back to them ASAP! I don't want to be stuck here babysitting for a second longer than I have to!"

Pein shook his head at Madara's words. He didn't remember what he had been talking about, but he knew that he was out of time to do anything else. He knew that he couldn't dawdle any longer - they had already wasted a lot of time waiting on Madara to make an appearance.

Pein quickly shoved his and Konan's clothes into backpacks before hugging Zetsu tightly and leaving the house with Konan. The ginger had barely even said a word to either Zetsu or Madara before disappearing.

Zetsu whimpered to himself, running to the bed and throwing himself on it. He hid under the covers, not wanting to have anything to do with the Uchiha. His breath hitched just moments later as footsteps walked towards the room. He screamed when Madara pulled the covers from off of him without warning.

_"P-please, don't hurt us..." _Zetsu whimpered, beginning to shake.

Madara laughed loudly, amused by Zetsu's fear. "Such an interesting little toy Pein has left for me... I'm going to have such fun with you, Zetsu."


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: This chapter contains child abuse and molestation. I've moved the full chapter over onto adultfanfiction, so if you wish to read it, please go and find me there, my username is the same.**

Zetsu whimpered as Madara's cold hands pulled him from the bed. He cried out as he hit the floor with a loud thump. He heard Madara behind him laugh, and he wasn't prepared for the kick that sent him slamming into the wall next.

"ARGH!" Zetsu screamed out as he felt his arm breaking at the impact.

Madara sniggered, leaning down next to Zetsu and lifting the boy by the hair to look him in the eye.

"You ugly little fuck," Madara growled out, punching Zetsu numerous times in the stomach before slamming him into the wall. "I don't know why Pein and Konan even bothered to bring you home - you look worthless to me; won't be of any use in my organisation. I'll make you a deal; seeing as you're _so scared_ right now, if you can stop me from raping your pathetic ass I'll leave you be - but if you _can't_ stop me… you're going to enjoy it."

Madara grinned. He knew that it wasn't a fair deal at all, and that's what Madara _loved. _


	4. Chapter 4

Pein and Konan returned home only a few days later from their mission, but nothing could have prepared them for what awaited them when they walked in the front door.

_"P-pein..." _Zetsu moaned as he lay on the living room floor. "H-help..."

Konan ran to Zetsu's side, trying to relax the obviously terrified boy, and Pein clenched his jaw in anger - he knew that he had done the wrong thing by leaving Zetsu alone with Madara, but they had no other choice.

Pein winced as he heard Zetsu cry out loudly when Konan moved him, and he felt anger override his emotions.

"MADARA!" Pein shouted out, stomping into his own bedroom, finding Madara fast asleep in the silky bed covers. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?"

Madara awoke and sat up. He smirked, shrugging. Pein growled, lunging at Madara, furious. He soon gasped for air when Madara met his stomach with a powerful kick.

"What was that, Pein?" Madara laughed, sitting up on the bed. "You looking for a fight? You know what happens when you go against me..."

Pein, realising who he was up against and remembering what happened every other time Madara had gotten angry at him, shivered from his position on the floor. Madara could kill him with ease, and he had already come close to doing it multiple times.

-LINEBREAK-

Konan covered Zetsu's ears as she heard the commotion from the bedroom. It was obvious who was winning - all Konan could hear were Pein's cries and whimpers and Madara laughing insanely.

"It's alright, Zetsu." Konan whispered, leaning down to kiss the child on the head. "It's all alright. Madara will leave soon and Pein will be fine."

Zetsu whimpered, burying his face in Konan's chest. His entire body burned and ached. Both of his arms were broken, several ribs were fractured and his knee was dislocated - all of this among the many bruises and cuts on the small boy's body.

Konan held him tighter, hating how this happened so often between Pein and Madara.

Konan shook her head, knowing that even when Madara did leave, Pein wouldn't talk to anyone or leave the bed - he would just lay under the covers in silence, contemplating something. She stood up with Zetsu in her arms, bringing him into Pein's study and grabbing some paper and a pen.

_Pein, _she wrote, _I've gone to take Zetsu to a hospital and I don't know when I will be back. If you are up to coming to the hospital when you read this, I've taken the direct route to the hospital and will take it when coming home, so don't go the other ways or we'll miss each other. Love, Konan. _

Zetsu shivered in Konan's hold, obviously still in shock by whatever Madara had done to him. Speaking of Madara, the bastard was just leaving the bedroom now, specs of blood on his face, his hands and sandals coated in it. He smirked at Konan, mockingly waving at her and Zetsu.

"I'll be going now," he said smugly. "Unlike you, I have to take care of my nephew."

Konan narrowed her eyes. What was he implying? She glared at the male, watching him leave, hatred in her gaze.

-LINEBREAK-

Konan hated hospitals. She hated them with a passion. She hated the long wait it took just for someone to add you to a list, and she hated how it took even longer for someone just to come and call your name to see you. But what she hated the most was how staff didn't care about any of their patients. She was willing to bet Pein's life that the doctor that was to treat Zetsu wouldn't give one shit about him.

"Zetsu Seishin?" Someone finally called after almost two hours of waiting.

Konan stood with a sigh, holding the quaking bundle in her arms. Zetsu hadn't stopped shaking ever since they had left the house.

"Ahh, so this is Zetsu-kun?" The doctor asked with pure dislike in his voice. "I'm sorry, but we don't treat such... unnatural things..."

Konan, by this point, was just barely containing her emotions, and if she was lacking in just a tiny bit of self-control right now she would have punched the doctor out.

"Can't you see he's suffering?" Konan all but shouted at the doctor. "He needs help! God, he can't even breathe properly!"

"I'm sorry, but that's none of my concern. Go take him elsewhere."

Konan had heard enough. She didn't hold back as she punched the doctor in the face. When he fell to the ground she shouted, "You're not sorry at all, you fucking asshole!"

Her sudden outburst had Zetsu in hysterics and she knew right there that were was nothing she could do for him besides take him back home and hope that he would heal.

-LINEBREAK-

Pein lay on the bed. He didn't move – he was just breathing softly and slowly, staring at the same crack in the wall he had been staring at for the last three hours. He always did this every time Madara 'disciplined' him - he would just lie on the bed, not moving a muscle for hours and just stare at the same spot. He wouldn't even speak when Konan spoke to him, and if she would try and move him, he would go limp in her hold and flop back down into a new position whenever and wherever Konan dropped him.

Pein heard the front door opening again and he unconsciously tensed - though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, Pein was scared of Madara. He hated that wretched man but had no choice but to ally with him.

Pein relaxed when he heard Konan calling out to him, telling him that she was back from wherever she had gone. He listened - not taking his eyes off of the crack in the wall - but he never spoke. Not even when Konan had entered the room, asking for help with Zetsu.

"Pein..." Konan whispered sadly, sitting on the edge of the bed, stroking Pein's face gently. "It'll be okay..."

Relaxed deeply by Konan's soothing presence, he closed his eyes, allowing a troubled sleep to take over him.

-LINEBREAK-

It took two days for Pein to step foot out of his room. He was quiet and had masked his chakra, still in slight fear that Madara was around. Konan knew that Pein was scared of Madara but she also knew better than to say anything. She hated how Madara made Pein so nervous and agitated for a few days after every visit - but Madara seemed to have that effect on everyone.

Pein came into the kitchen quietly. He looked around, fear in his ringed eyes, before spotting Zetsu sitting in a chair with Konan feeding him.

"How is he?" Pein asked quietly, almost not wanting to be heard.

Konan smiled at Pein. "He's okay now... The hospital wouldn't admit him so I did what I could and we're letting the rest heal on its own... both of his arms are broken and so is one of his legs... and he had some fractured ribs... but he's alright. He just needs to rest."

Pein ran his gaze over Zetsu, shaking his head in disbelief at all of the bruises and cuts still visible underneath the bandages. He sat down next to Zetsu, stroking the boy's hair comfortingly.

_"P-pein..." _Zetsu whispered, blushing shyly, staring at the ground. _"T-thank you..." _

"For what?"

_"For..." _Zetsu blushed darker at this. _"For loving___**us."**

Pein smiled at Zetsu, leaning down and kissing Zetsu on the forehead. Zetsu's blush turned even darker if that was possible, and he fidgeted nervously in his seat.

Pein smiled at Zetsu before grabbing a bowl from the dish rack and pouring some cereal into it. He ate slowly as he read the newspaper.

Just minutes later he was interrupted by a small tapping on the window. Pein looked up, seeing a messenger bird pecking on the window with a letter tied to its leg.

_"Birdy!" _Zetsu exclaimed happily, smiling.

"Do you like birds, Zetsu?" Konan smiled.

**"The little ones we do. **_The big ones scare us."_

Pein laughed a little and Konan grinned happily - whenever Pein would shut off from the world because of Madara, it normally took him weeks before even smiling again, let alone laughing. Zetsu really was doing something positive for Pein, wasn't he?

Pein opened the letter, paling as he saw who it was from.

"It's from Madara…" Pein whispered, hands trembling as he read further. "He wants us to come to his house next week to discuss further plans for the organisation and... he needs someone to look after his nephew…"

Konan shook his head. "I don't even know _why _he has that kid. He can't look after it!"

"He's not an 'it', Konan - he's only a baby." Pein said soothingly.

Zetsu tugged on Konan's sleeve.

**"Does... he have a baby?" **Konan nodded.** "Does... he do bad things to the baby…?"**

Konan tilted her head, realising what he had meant.

"I don't think so, sweetie... I think he actually does love the baby deeply but has trouble showing it... it's really the only part of his family he has left to remember them by. He doesn't have any other family left."

Zetsu nodded.


	5. Chapter 5

_"Do we have to go, Pein?" _Zetsu whispered, rocking back and forth on the couch a little over a week later.

Pein shook his head, trying to be tough for Zetsu - he didn't want to go either. He sat down next to him, pulling him into a tight hug. "It'll only be for a few days... and you'll get to meet Tobi."

**"Is Tobi the baby?"**

"Mhm. He's almost one and you'll get to help Konan look after him."

**Zetsu held Pein's arm tightly, hugging it. "****But we want to stay **_with you. We like you best, Pein."_

Pein smiled, stroking the boy's hair gently. "You're cute, Zetsu. You can stay with me, just not when we go into the office, okay? Madara will be angry if you go in there."

Zetsu nodded, pulling himself onto Pein's lap, resting his head against the older male's chest. Pein held him for a few more minutes before he heard Konan turning the shower off. He pulled Zetsu from his lap, standing him on the floor.

"Go into the living room, please, Zetsu." Pein said gently. "Konan's out of the shower and she has to get dressed."

"Okay, Pein." Zetsu smiled, hugging Pein once more before obeying his orders.

-LINEBREAK-

"Where the fuck were you?" Madara shouted as he opened the door to Pein, Konan and Zetsu the next day. "He hasn't stopped crying for two days now!"

Konan glared at Madara, pushing past him to go to the nursery. Pein nudged Zetsu, silently asking for him to follow her. The boy reluctantly obeyed, chasing after Konan quickly. He could hear Madara shouting at Pein.

**"Konan, wait!" **Zetsu called, running to her.

"Quickly, sweetie." Konan said quietly, grabbing Zetsu's hand and holding it. "Poor baby must be starving..."

Zetsu looked around as Konan led him to the baby's room. It certainly seemed like Konan knew her way around the place. _"Have you been here before, Konan?"_

"Yes. A lot of times. Pein and I come here normally once a week."

**"It's really big... **_ Yes, it's huge, Konan! We didn't know houses were so big!"_

Konan laughed softly. "This is a mansion, Zetsu-kun."

_"Wow..."_

Konan smiled at Zetsu but she soon begun frowning as she heard the baby's cries. She pushed the door open, intent on coming to the baby's rescue.

Zetsu gasped as the door was opened, in awe of the room - this room was for a baby and, yet, the orphanage didn't have nearly as many toys even with everyone's put together! He watched as Konan hurried to the back of the room and over to a crib.

"Hush, Tobi…" Konan cooed gently, leaning into a crib and picking up a baby with messy black hair. "Shh, sweetie... it's alright... You must be very hungry. Come, let's get you some food, Tobi."

Zetsu – too busy looking at all the toys - almost didn't notice when Konan had left the room with the baby. He ran after her, silently staring at Tobi and studying him curiously - at the orphanage, all of the babies were put into a separate building - he had never really seen one before.

_"He's really loud..." _Zetsu muttered, holding his sensitive ears to try and block out all the screaming.

"He's just very hungry, Zetsu. He'll be quiet soon once he's been fed."

Zetsu nodded, finding that they had come to a huge kitchen. His mouth dropped open at the sight of all the food - he had never seen a kitchen so well stocked before, even at a place that had to feed over fifty children and a heap of adults!

_"K-konan! There's so much food!___**Can we have some? ****Please!"**

Konan smiled. "Of course. Grab whatever you like."

Zetsu grinned as Konan placed the baby in a highchair before running to the pantry and ripping the door open. He himself hurried over to the pantry and opened the door with shaking hands.

_"Can we have some pocky, Konan?" _Zetsu begged, drooling at the thought of pocky**. ****"We've only ever had pocky once but we really like it!"**

"Sure, Zetsu. Just don't eat all of it, okay?"

Zetsu nodded. He grabbed a handful before seating himself at the huge table beside Konan and Tobi. He watched with wide, interested eyes as Konan fed the now-quiet child as he munched quietly on his snack.

_**"You're good with him, Konan." **_Zetsu smiled. "Yeah, you made him shut up."

Konan laughed. "He was just hungry, sweetie."

_"Do you look after Tobi often?"_

"Yeah, I suppose. Madara _does _try but he doesn't really know much about kids. Oh, Zetsu - Pein says he'll start training you as soon as he and Madara are finished talking, okay? So eat up and get your strength because Pein won't go easy on you." Konan smiled at Zetsu.

Zetsu beamed at Konan. "YAY!" He cheered loudly. "WE CANT WAIT!"

Zetsu had accidentally startled Tobi with his outburst. The boy's eyes widened as he stared at Zetsu before he began crying loudly again.

Zetsu turned around, putting his hands on Tobi's shoulders. _"Oh, Tobi, we're sorry! We didn't mean to scare you! Honest! _...**Crybaby."**

To Konan's surprise, Tobi quietened instantly. Tobi was a handful and he _never _just stopped crying like that – what had Zetsu _done?_

"He likes you, Zetsu." Konan cooed, stroking Zetsu's hair.

Zetsu giggled, hugging Tobi. _"We like him too!___**...Yeah..."**

-LINEBREAK-

"Zetsu?" Pein poked his head around the corner of the living room later that day. He found Zetsu sitting on the ground with Tobi, playing with him. "Do you want to come outside with me and train for a while?"

Zetsu jumped to his feet, running to Pein and hugging him in response. Pein smiled, stroking the boy's hair.

Konan wasn't as happy - Pein's face was starting to bruise. Konan grit her teeth in anger. She fucking _hated _Madara with a passion.

Pein caught her gaze and knew instantly what she was thinking. "It's okay, Konan... He didn't hurt me bad this time..."

"Pein -"

"Not now, Konan, okay?" Pein subtly gestured to Zetsu.

Konan nodded, albeit reluctantly. She watched as the two males left together and busied herself with looking after the baby.

-**XX- **

Zetsu had never seen a space so big before. He couldn't believe that all of this outdoor space belonged to Madara alone.

"Zetsu." Pein called softly, gathering the boy's attention. Zetsu looked to Pein with wide, excited eyes. "Have you ever practised Shinobi skills before?"

Zetsu smiled. _"Yup! We used to sneak out of the orphanage and go to the school and watch everyone!___**No one even noticed we were there." **

Pride was in both of Zetsu's voices and Pein smiled. Zetsu sure was coming a long way since the first day or two. Pein reached into a pocket, pulling out a handful of shuriken. He handed them to Zetsu.

"See that tree there?"

**"Yeah?"**

"Hit it with the shuriken. We won't worry about a target just yet until I see how good you are."

Zetsu grinned. He took the shuriken and threw them at the tree, and to Pein's shock - and yet, glee - he hit them all dead-centre... _without _a target.


	6. Chapter 6

Zetsu sat on his bed, too excited to go to sleep – he only wanted to fill Konan in on the details of his training session with Pein.

"_A-and then – _**And then Pein said that we were **_really good for someone who hasn't been trained!" _The boy cried excitedly.

Konan laughed, placing her hands on Zetsu's shoulders and pushing him down gently. "Honey, that is fantastic – but it's sleep-time now. You need to go to bed, okay? You can tell me the rest of your day tomorrow at breakfast."

Zetsu frowned before nodding. "Okay… _Goodnight, Konan."_

"Goodnight, sweetness." Konan leant down and placed a kiss on Zetsu's forehead. "Have a good sleep and we'll see you in the morning. Love you."

"_Love you, too, Konan."_

Konan glanced at the boy as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. She hoped that Zetsu would sleep well and not be worried about Madara – she herself was concerned about leaving the boy alone during the night with that monster running around.

The blue-haired woman walked down the end of the hall and entered Tobi's bedroom, checking on the baby. She stepped closer to the crib and smiled at the sight of the young Uchiha curled up in a ball, clutching his blue horse teddy tightly.

"You're so adorable…" Konan whispered, reaching out to stroke the black hair that was growing already. "Madara doesn't deserve you, Tobi…"

Tobi hiccupped in his sleep, a serene smile crossing his chubby face.

Konan only giggled and leant down, kissing Tobi's head before turning and leaving the room once again. She made her way downstairs to the living room, intent on enjoying the peace before Madara arrived back home.

**-XX- **

Close to two hours later, Madara and Pein returned.

Konan had been sitting out on the couch, watching the TV, but her attention quickly changed to Pein as the male stumbled into the mansion, bleeding and limping.

"Pein…" Konan said sadly, getting to her feet and pulling Pein into a tight hug. "…Oh, Pein…"

Madara only sneered at the sight. "You two are pathetic. I'm going upstairs. Don't disturb me for _any _reason."

Konan glared after the retreating male. She helped Pein over to the couch and laid him down on it, grabbing his hand and squeezing.

"It'll be okay, Pein…" Konan whispered. "I know it will be…"

Pein – as expected – didn't even look at the woman.

**-LINEBREAK-**

"Pein...?"

Pein opened his eyes the next morning to see Zetsu's worried face.

"What's wrong?"

"...Nothing..." Pein murmured, choosing to stare at the ground instead. "I'm fine."

"Zetsu, come away, please." Konan asked gently, pulling Zetsu away. "Pein is okay - he's just a little sick, alright? He needs his rest."

Zetsu nodded, his yellow eyes watching Pein's, filled with worry. Pein heard the two of them leave and he sighed in relief. He didn't want Zetsu to see him like this - bruised and beaten; a pathetic excuse for a human.

**-LINEBREAK-**

Zetsu sat at the breakfast table, shivering in fear with Madara's eyes on him. He avoided eye-contact, staring at his breakfast plate, but he could feel the intensity of the stare like it was burning a hole right through him.

"K-konan..." Zetsu whimpered. "Make him stop looking."

Konan growled softly, putting the spoon down on the table and turning to glare at Madara. "Leave Zetsu alone. You do enough to Pein without bringing him into this as well."

Madara smirked, turning to stare at Konan Getting up off his chair, he walked around to Konan's side, leaning down and whispering in her ear, "If I were you I'd start paying more attention to Zetsu... He'll suffice to make Pein do whatever I say..."

"DONT YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!" Konan shouted, getting to her feet and shoving Madara, oblivious to Tobi's frightened screaming and Zetsu's startled sobbing.

Madara laughed. "Who do you think you're talking to, you stupid bitch?"

"Don't talk about Konan like that!" Zetsu whimpered, trying to gather up his courage and defend the person who had always stood up for him.

"It's alright, Zetsu," Konan said, trying to even her voice out for Zetsu. "I want you to take Tobi into the living room and sit with Pein, okay?"

Zetsu nodded, getting up to do as he was bid but he was stopped by Madara.

"You can go into the living room but you're not taking my nephew with you... this is good for him - it will help him grow stronger in later life."

"No, it won't!" Konan shouted, trying to pry Madara's hand from Zetsu's wrist. "All it will do is traumatise him and hinder his abilities!"

Madara slapped Konan harshly. "Don't tell me how to raise my own family, Konan. He's an Uchiha - he's naturally strong."

Zetsu whimpered as the grip on his wrist tightened, bruising it badly. "Please, let us go..."

Madara ripped his hand from Zetsu and raised it instead to slap the boy. He watched as the child ran away in fear, blinded by tears. He smirked at Konan before picking Tobi up and carrying him away.

Konan refused to let her tears fall and instead focused on finding Zetsu and checking on him. She found him only a few minutes later cowering in one of the closets. She leant down, picking the frightened kid up, hugging him.

"Are you alright, Zetsu-kun?" Konan whispered soothingly.

Zetsu whimpered in reply.

"I'm so sorry, Zetsu..."

**-LINEBREAK-**

"Pein, please…" Konan begged the next day. "Please, get up! You don't know how stressful it is when you're like this!"

Pein ignored her. His eyes were unforced, but he wasn't quite in his own mind just yet.

"At least say something, Pein! Zetsu's freaking out and he wants you!"

At the mention of Zetsu's name, Pein's eyes slowly came back into focus. "Zetsu…?"

"He's terrified! He wants to be with you, Pein, but you're… like this, again!"

"…What's wrong with him…?" Pein's voice was weak and his body looked frailer than it usually did right now. "…Is he alright…?"

Konan shook her head. "Did you not hear us yesterday morning at breakfast?"

Pein shook his head. The man must've been locked inside of his mind once again during the breakfast incident. He wouldn't have taken in anything.

Konan let a tear slip past her long lashes.

"Pein, we… We should just forget about this stupid idea! All it's doing is hurting us all! Madara's a fucking sadist; you're too scared to protect yourself – and we both know what Madara could do to Zetsu!"

"No, Konan… World peace… I don't matter… World peace is what matters!"

"Pein… What about Zetsu?"

"…"

"That's right, Pein…"

Pein wasn't about to give up just yet. "…We can protect Zetsu… Train him… He's so skilled, Konan… You should see him… Everything he can do – he taught himself… Already at Jonin level… With proper training, Madara would stand no chance…!"

Pein almost immediately fell into a coughing fit, twitching in pain.

Konan snarled – this was all Madara's fault.

**-LINEBREAK-**

Zetsu had locked himself in his room, drawing quietly. He was still very nervous from yesterday's events. He whimpered as someone knocked on his door. He didn't want to, but he reluctantly called out for whoever was knocking to come in – what if it was Madara…?

Konan – to Zetsu's relief – was the one who entered. She carried Tobi. "Pein will be up shortly, sweetie. I want to show you something."

Zetsu tilted his head. "What is it?"

"ZuZu!" Tobi exclaimed happily, throwing his arms up in the air and bouncing around in Konan's hold. "ZuZu!"

Zetsu grinned, almost immediately forgetting the fear that he had been feeling. "_Can we hold him?"_

"Of course, sweetie. Sit down on the bed so you don't drop him."

Zetsu obeyed. The second that Tobi had been placed in his hold, the baby squealed in delight. "ZuZu! ZuZu! ZUZU!"

"He's saying your name/" Konan smiled. "That's his first word."

Zetsu was speechless. All he could do was hug Tobi, already forgetting the events of yesterday completely.


	7. Chapter 7

**-Five years later-**

"Are you ready, Zetsu?" Pein asked the now-thirteen-year-old Zetsu as he picked up a box wrapped in gift paper.

"_Almost." _Zetsu smiled at Pein as he pulled on a jacket. **"Have you got everything?"**

Pein nodded as he slipped the box into his bag. "Yes. I'll be out in the living room."

Zetsu nodded. He bit his tongue as he put his feet into his sandals carefully. He had stepped on broken glass just the night before. When he was satisfied with the soft padding between his feet and the shoes, he sauntered slowly into the living room.

"**We're ready, Pein. **_Where's Konan?"_

"Oh, she already left last night to help set up everything. It's just you and me, Zetsu."

Zetsu grinned. He loved his alone time with Pein. Every time that they were together, he got a funny feeling in his stomach. Every time that they touched was like electricity running through his body at the contact – but a good kind of electricity. Once his member had even grown when Pein had seen him naked in the bathroom.

Zetsu was soon snapped out of his thoughts by Pein's voice.

"Have you got Tobi's birthday card?" The ginger asked.

Zetsu nodded, pulling it out of his pocket. _"Here it is."_

Pein grabbed the card and placed it onto his back before he stood up and grabbed Zetsu's hand. The man led the boy to the front door and, soon enough, they made their way to Madara's mansion.

**-XX-**

"K-konan…?" Tobi called from the living room floor. "K-k-konan? Uncle M-madara?"

Konan was the one to enter the room at the boy's timid calls. Her hands were dirty from cake mix. "What is it, Tobi-kun?"

Tobi whimpered, lifting his arms up. Konan knew that he wanted to be held.

Konan felt the boy snuggle in close and she smiled, rubbing his back. She knew that Tobi was nervous about his party – which was Madara's fault.

The older Uchiha had dropped Tobi by accident when the boy was only a few months old. The doctors had told Madara that Tobi would be fine – but he wasn't. Tobi was blind in one eye and half deaf, suffering developmental delays. Because of this, he was bullied.

The young Uchiha must have been terrified of the party due to the bullying – but why that would be, Konan couldn't understand.

"Kon-nan…" Tobi muttered, wrapping his small arms around Konan, sniffling quietly.

"Shh…" Konan soothed. "Zetsu will be here soon. He'll look after you."

"ZuZu!" Tobi exclaimed, jumping around on Konan's lap in his excitement. "ZuZu c-come! ZuZu come!"

Konan laughed, patting Tobi's head. She put the boy on the ground once the doorbell rang and went to answer it. She opened the door and was immediately pulled into Pein's arms while Zetsu stepped forward, running to Tobi without even uttering hello to Konan.

"_Happy birthday, Tobi!" _Zetsu exclaimed happily, hugging his little friend. **"We've got something for you."**

Pein smiled at Tobi and patted his head before reaching into his pack and pulling out the present and the card. He handed them both to Zetsu who, in turn, gave them to Tobi.

"Open up your present, Tobi!" Both sides of Zetsu grinned.

Tobi smiled, pulling at the wrapping. He soon discovered a puppy-dog teddy.

"Tobi like!" Tobi exclaimed, hugging the toy tightly. "T-tobi like! Z-ZuZu good!"

Zetsu laughed and hugged the Uchiha. _"Konan is making the cake, isn't she? Let's go outside and play, Tobi!"_

Tobi smiled in reply, taking Zetsu's hand tightly as the older boy led him carefully to the backyard. He still had trouble walking on his own, but Zetsu didn't mind helping in the least – he loved helping Tobi learn new things, and he _was _the one to teach him to talk, after all.

"**Guess what, Tobi!" **Zetsu cried in excitement as they sat outside on the grass together with Tobi sprawled across the elder's lap.

"Eh?" Tobi didn't look up from the small blade of grass he was playing with.

"_We…" _Zetsu blushed before speaking again. _"We really like Pein…"_

Tobi giggled. "ZuZu like P-pein! ZuZu g-g-good!"

"_He said that he would give us a talk tonight."_ Zetsu continued on, excited that he could finally voice his thoughts to someone. _"Maybe he likes us, too!"_

Tobi giggled again before looking up at the older boy and hugging him. "Tobi good?"

"**Yes, Tobi is a very good boy."**

"Hehe! Pein there! Uncle M-m-madara there!"

Zetsu turned around. His face was still flushed from his excitement and he couldn't hide it.

"P-pein!"

Pein smiled at Zetsu as he and Madara walked towards them from the mansion. "Konan has made some pancakes for everyone. Come inside and eat and then you can play together."

**-XX-**

Tobi's party went well between the tiny group. Tobi had a splendid time with all of the toys and attention that he was lavished with. Zetsu had been teaching him new words again and now the young Uchiha could say 'boy'.

"ZuZu good boy!" Tobi exclaimed that night, admiring his now-favourite word.

Tobi and Zetsu were sitting in the living room in front of the fire, playing with Tobi's new building blocks. Konan was supervising them while Pein and Madara were in the office. Madara – not wanting to ruin his nephew's birthday – wasn't being a heartless bastard today and was rather civil.

"All we need now is our first couple of members." Madara explained to Pein as he pointed at the map in front of them. "I'll go and look for them but you need to watch Tobi for me."

"W-we can't afford another person…" Pein said in a quiet tone, instinctively flinching away. "We can barely afford to look after ourselves…"

Madara laughed. "Who said that you were paying for his expenses? I'll loan you the money as long as you look after my nephew properly."

Pein nodded, knowing that they had no other choice in the matter. "If that's all, Madara-sama, I must go and speak with Zetsu."

"What about, Pein?"

Pein blushed. "You know… Ahem…"

Madara smirked. "I see. Go ahead. But without Tobi around."

Pein nodded and bowed. He just wanted to be gone from Madara's horrible presence.

**-XX-**

"Zetsu-kun, do you want to come upstairs with me for a while?" Pein asked Zetsu just a few minutes later. "There's something I want to talk to you about."

Zetsu nodded. Tobi only giggled and clapped his hands together happily. "Z-zuzu l-like Pein!"

Zetsu blushed darkly, trying to shush Tobi before the boy said anything more. _"N-not like that_! **We swear!"**

Pein laughed and leant down to hug Zetsu. "I know, Zetsu."

Zetsu grinned, hugging back. Pein smiled. He knew that Zetsu liked boys (though whether or not Zetsu did like him in that way, he wasn't too sure). That was why he wanted to be able to teach Zetsu about sex instead of Konan.

"Let's go, Zetsu-kun."

"Okay! _Bye, Tobi!" _Zetsu hugged Tobi, kissing him on the cheek before chasing after Pein.

It was when they made it into Pein's room did Zetsu begin to get nervous. He remembered how Madara had raped him all those years ago – how the Uchiha had made it feel good for him. Truth be told, Zetsu _did _like the feeling that Madara helped him experience, but he didn't want it from the Uchiha – he wanted Pein to make him feel that way. Even at his young age, he understood that sex was something to be done only with someone you really loved, and he really _really _loved Pein.

Pein sat Zetsu on the bed and sat beside him. He wondered where to begin – he had never given anyone this talk before.

"Well…" Pein began, trying to find the right words. "…It's about time that you learn about sex, Zetsu. You're coming to that age where you'll feel things that you've never felt before. Now, Konan and I have noticed that you… feel those things around other boys – like when you're watching TV. I want you to know that it is okay, and Konan and I accept it fully.

Zetsu blushed, remembering a time when he had been watching TV. The main male character had taken his clothes off (though nothing private had been revealed) to sit in a hot spring. Pein had walked in at the unfortunate moment Zetsu begun panting with lust and a bulge formed in his pants.

Zetsu was just glad that neither Pein nor Konan minded – he felt different when that happened.

**-XX-**

The talk had gone on for a while between the two of them. Pein had answered Zetsu's questions, albeit uncomfortable with the topic of explaining what a blowjob was - though he hadn't called it a blowjob or even heard. He had referred to it as oral sex for Zetsu's innocent ears.

But now, it was time for Pein to voice his concerns. "Zetsu… I don't know how to say this… But do you have those feelings for Tobi? I hope that I haven't offended you or anything, but Tobi is very young and still innocent, and you're almost fourteen, Zetsu – you can't go around feeling that for a five-year-o –"

"Pein…" Zetsu's eyes were wide open at this accusation. _"…It's not Tobi that we have those feelings for… _**It's you…"**

Zetsu whispered the last part before ducking his head, blushing scarlet.

Pein was stunned. Had Zetsu really just said that…? "…Excuse me, Zetsu?"

"…_We… We like you, Pein…"_


	8. Chapter 8

Pein was shocked to say the least. Zetsu - the sweet and innocent young boy - had just admitted to liking Pein.

"Z-zetsu…" Pein stuttered. He didn't know what to say – what_ could _he say? "…"

Zetsu lowered his head in shame. _"Did we say the wrong thing…? _**We're… **_We're sorry, Pein… Please, don't be angry with us…"_

"Zetsu…" Pein snapped out his shock-induced stupor. "…It's okay… I'm not angry at you. But…"

Zetsu's eyes widened at these words. _"You… You don't… _** Like us…?"**

Pein frowned when Zetsu began to cry. He wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling him in close. "Zetsu… no… It's not like that… It's just… I'm too old for you… You know? …And you're only a child… You don't know what you want just yet…"

"_We want you, Pein!" _Zetsu sobbed out, hugging the ginger. **"We **_love you!"_

"Zetsu… You've never even had sex before… You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"_Yes, we have…" _Zetsu whispered, squeezing his eyes shut in fear. How would Pein take the news?

Pein gasped. Zetsu… "What? When?"

"…"

"Zetsu!"

"He said not to tell you or he'll do it to us again!" Zetsu sobbed. Admitting that he had been raped was harder than hiding it, he found.

Pein stared, dumbstruck, as Zetsu cried into his lap. So Madara had already gotten to Zetsu? And they hadn't realised? Pein growled, getting to his feet. He was furious, but before he get leave to confront Madara, a small hand grabbed his and stopped him.

"Zetsu, let go!" Pein growled, trying to shake the boy off of him.

"NO!" Both sides of Zetsu screamed. "DON'T! PLEASE! HE'LL DO IT AGAIN!"

Pein tried to hush Zetsu – if someone came up and saw the state that Zetsu was in, questions would be flying. He finally calmed the boy down by letting Zetsu cry into his chest.

'_I've got to tell Konan about this…' _Pein thought to himself. He himself was trying not to cry.

**-XX-**

Zetsu woke up very early the next morning, finding himself still in Pein's room and cuddled up against the older male. Pein's arm was wrapped around him and Konan was sleeping beside them.

Zetsu carefully untangled himself from Pein's body. He got up from the bed and left the room as quietly as he could. He headed to the kitchen before making a detour to Tobi's room to check on him. Tobi was still sleeping peacefully, cuddling the teddy that Zetsu had gotten him.

Zetsu yawned as he made his way down into the kitchen. He made himself some breakfast and sat at the table, eating quietly. He had thought that everyone was asleep – until Madara strode in, smirking. The Uchiha sat across from him, watching the boy intently.

"I heard you last night." Madara sneered. "Such a bad boy you are, Zetsu. Bad boys get punished. I should punish you right now while everyone's still asleep."

Zetsu shivered. _"Go away…" _

Madara laughed. "You're strong, Zetsu. I'll give you that, but no one can beat an Uchiha. Especially a little mutant like yourself."

Zetsu got up from the table, trying to leave before Madara got physical again, but Madara was fast. He had Zetsu pinned against the wall opposite them with one hand over the boy's mouth.

"Now you're gonna be a good boy and keep quiet, aren't you?" Madara hissed, snaking his hand down Zetsu's side and into the child's pants.

Zetsu growled, biting at the hand that was covering his mouth. He caught the pointer finger in between his teeth, and he crunched down hard enough to feel blood pour into his mouth in rivers.

Madara yelped as he pulled his hand away. He looked at the damage before he smirked that evil smirk again. "I know what we can use you for…"

Zetsu took a moment to gather breath into his lungs. He screamed at the top of his voice, knowing that he couldn't handle Madara alone.

The Uchiha punched Zetsu into the stomach hard enough for the boy to double over before kicking Zetsu's face ferociously.

Madara disappeared as footsteps ran towards the dining room. He left a frightened Zetsu in his dust without a second thought.

Zetsu screamed as someone grabbed him from behind. He shushed almost immediately at Pein's voice, beginning to cry instead. He refused to answer when Pein asked what had happened.

**-XX-**

"How is he?" Pein asked as he entered Zetsu's bedroom an hour later.

"He's doing better." Konan whispered, mindful of the sleeping child. "He was upset that Tobi had to go to school – he didn't want to be alone. He's sleeping now and it'll be good for him to relax."

"I can't believe that we didn't realise, Konan…"

"…"

Pein sat beside Konan on the bed, gently stroking Zetsu's face in concern. He felt the boy twitch under his touch so he stopped, not wanting to frighten him.

"What are we going to do…?" Pein whispered, putting his face in his hands.

"Pein…" Konan placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "…It's going to be okay. Zetsu lasted five years without telling anybody and if he can do that, it proves just how strong he is. He'll be fine with us there to support him - I promise you that."

Pein nodded. He knew what it was like to be raped – Madara had raped him plenty of times. It was a scary thing, but Pein hadn't been raped for the first time until he was nineteen – eleven years older than when Zetsu was raped. It made Pein think that if he was scared during, imagine how Zetsu must have felt at that age.

"You're so strong, Zetsu-kun…" Pein muttered, smiling weakly at Zetsu. "I don't think that I would have lasted if I didn't have Konan to talk to about the times _he _did it to me…"

**-XX-**

Two days had passed. Pein made sure to stick to Zetsu like glue. The boy was currently sleeping on his chest when Konan entered the room, informing them that Madara had left to find members and that they had to pick Tobi up from school and then head home.

Pein nodded. He picked Zetsu up and carried him out of the room, not having the heart to wake the boy up again.

They arrived at the school by lunchtime. Finding Tobi was no easy feat – there were probably hundreds of kids running around the school area. Zetsu had awoken by this point in time and was following behind Pein and Konan, looking around – when he was still an orphan, this was where he had wanted to be most – at a Shinobi school.

"Do you see him anywhere, Zetsu?" Konan asked, kneeling down to be eye-level with Zetsu.

Zetsu shook his head. **"You should ask someone. **_Yeah."_

Pein patted Zetsu's head gently, looking around for a teacher. He spotted one, grabbing Zetsu's hand and pulling him along.

"Excuse me…" Pein asked, grabbing the teacher's attention. "I'm looking for Uchiha Tobi. We have to pick him up for Madara because he's gone away on business."

"Do you have a written permission slip with Madara's signature?"

"Yes. Here." Pein held out the note. He sighed in relief when the teacher nodded.

"He'll be just down this way. The poor dear never really leaves the classroom because he gets bullied so much… I don't even know why Madara put the child in at his age and condition… If he can't walk by himself, how is he ever going to throw shuriken by himself?"

Pein agreed with the teacher – both he and Konan thought that Madara was an idiot for pushing it all on Tobi so soon – he should have at least waited until the boy could walk.

"I don't know why, either…" Pein mumbled. "We've known him for years, but we can admit that he's as big an idiot as they come…"

Konan shook her head, grabbing Zetsu's other hand and holding it. Zetsu retreated into his own mind, but it seemed that only seconds later he was brought back into reality by a familiar squeal of delight and having the air knocked out of him as he was glomped.

"ZuZu!" Tobi squealed, snuggling in close to Zetsu's chest.

Zetsu smiled, hugging Tobi tightly. He knew that Pein was going to bring Tobi home with them for a while, and he was glad – he liked being with Pein and Konan, but sometimes he got lonely.


	9. Chapter 9

Tobi had not seen his uncle for two months now and he was starting to become depressed and anxious without the elder Uchiha around. Pein and Konan had tried to keep the small boy calm, but he was too stressed about Madara's absence.

"W-where U-uncle Mad-dara?" Tobi sobbed into Zetsu.

Zetsu held the boy, rocking him on the bed. _"He'll be back, Tobi. He hasn't forgotten about you."_

"T-tobi want Uncle M-madara!" Tobi cried, shaking. "Tobi s-scared!"

"_Please, don't be scared, Tobi! You know that we won't ever hurt you!"_

Normally, Zetsu would be able to keep Tobi calm about almost everything, but with the absence of Madara, this was a new high in Tobi's anxiety levels. Pein had tried to explain it to him that Tobi had never really been separated from Madara for long before and it would be horrifying for him to not even know where Madara was.

"**Do you want us to go find Konan?" **Zetsu tried, seeing just how upset Tobi was.

"T-tobi w-want Uncle M-madara!" Tobi yelled out, kicking his legs up and down on the mattress.

"Tobi, don't do that!" Zetsu exclaimed, trying to hold the thrashing boy still.

The door opened. Konan and Pein entered, looking at Tobi sadly. Konan took Tobi from Zetsu, trying to stop the boy from having a tantrum, while Pein took Zetsu from the room.

Pein led Zetsu to the office, trying to ignore Tobi's loud cries and Konan's desperate consoling, but it was too much.

"Pein…" Zetsu begun slowly, trying to work out how to phrase his thoughts. _"…Why is Tobi _**acting like this?"**

"I've told you before, Zetsu," Pein began patiently, "he's frightened."

"_But he knows us just as well as Madara!"_

"Zetsu, Madara is Tobi's uncle – would you like to be separated from Konan or myself for a long time without knowing where we were and when we were coming back?"

"…No…"

"Tobi loves you, Zetsu-kun, but he loves Madara more. He must feel very lost without him around. Tobi has never stayed here for more than a few days – except for when he was with Madara. He's only very young and has a brain injury – things frighten him when they shouldn't."

Zetsu nodded with a frown. He felt sorry for Tobi – if Pein had taken off and let him alone by himself, he'd have been very upset, too.

"_Can we stay up tonight, Pein?" _Zetsu asked with a hopeful smile.

"No, Zetsu. You're going to bed as soon as Tobi calms down. Just come and sit with me in my office for a while, okay?"

Zetsu smiled brightly and nodded. As usual, he would use their time together _alone _to try and get Pein to love him back the way he loved the ginger.

Pein sat down at the desk, going over sheets of paper. Zetsu sat beside him, trying to think of a new way to approach Pein. Maybe he should be more… adventurous?

Zetsu grinned at the ideas running through his head. He dropped onto the ground and crawled in front of Pein's legs. He pushed them apart before quickly kneeling in between them. His head was so close to the man's clothed groin that his breath was making Pein shiver.

"Z-zetsu!" Pein exclaimed, trying to close his legs without hurting Zetsu. "G-get out of there! Now!"

Zetsu shook his head. _"We want you, Pein! We want you to _**make us feel better about Madara!"**

Pein gazed softened, as did his voice. So Zetsu really only wanted comfort? But… Whatever Zetsu wanted sexually, he wasn't about to get it – the boy was too young and he wasn't a pedophile.

"Zetsu, out." Pein said softly, trying to pull the younger boy away. "I… You're too young!"

Zetsu growled. He tried to say in between the elder's legs. He even went as far as to rub his cheek against Pein's crotch. Pein gasped as he felt himself hardening with the contact, but he wasn't about to give in.

"Zetsu!" Pein shouted, getting to his feet and raising a threatening hand. "I told you – _out!"_

Zetsu jumped at the shout – Pein had never yelled at him before. He froze, body trembling slightly. He tried not to cry. He stood up and walked to the door, not looking at Pein's face.

"…Sorry…" Zetsu mumbled before walking through the door.

"Zetsu…" Pein whispered. He felt horrible, but he knew that he had done the right thing.

**-XX-**

It was a week later when Madara returned. Everything was chaotic. Konan and Pein were grumpy with everyone, Tobi was being a brat, and Zetsu was hiding somewhere in the house.

"Zetsu, get out here now!" Konan called. She was annoyed as she waited at the hallway entrance.

"ZuZu bad!" Tobi shouted, happily mimicking everyone's behaviour.

Madara was being absolutely no help. He sat on the couch with the TV on, eating and drinking without a care in the world. He patted Tobi's head, encouraging the boy's behaviour.

"Zetsu, if you're not out here by the count of three," Pein called, stressed to the max, "I'll find you and drag you out by force!"

They waited in silence when finally, a faint bang told them that Zetsu was emerging from wherever he had hidden. When the boy did come into sight, he was covered in dust and cobwebs.

Konan raised an eyebrow. "Where were you, Zetsu?"

"Vents…" Zetsu mumbled sadly, looking down at the ground.

Pein sighed. Ever since the night he had yelled at Zetsu, they had been rather distant with each other. He hadn't realised how much he had hurt Zetsu until the boy wouldn't even look at him.

"You're filthy, Zetsu." Konan growled in annoyance. "Well, there's no time for a clean – we have to leave now."

"**But what about –?"**

"We're burning the house down and everything in it, Zetsu." Pein explained. "They could track us if we left everything intact."

Zetsu gasped. _"But -!"_

"No buts, Zetsu… We'll replace your things when we get to our new home."

"…" Zetsu's eyes welled with tears.

Pein's gaze softened. He leant down and hugged Zetsu, knowing that this would be so hard for him. Had he ruined their relationship for good? Or could it still be salvaged? He hoped so.


	10. Chapter 10

"This is our home?" Zetsu asked in disbelief as he laid eyes on a cave.

Pein nodded. "Yeah..."

_"It looks kinda...___**like a cave." **

"That's because it _is _a cave…" Madara rolled his eyes.

**"Fuck you." **Zetsu growled at Madara.

Pein and Konan gasped.

"Zetsu!" They scolded. "Watch your language!"

Zetsu dropped his gaze, ashamed. _"Sorry..."_

"Don't ever let me hear you swearing again." Konan said, albeit a little gentler.

Pein sighed. He knew that Zetsu was only acting out because he was hurt and afraid. He knelt down beside and boy and pulled him into a hug. He wasn't surprised to feel the plant-nin cling to his shirt like a lifeline as he cried.

"Shh…" Pein soothed as he rubbed Zetsu's head. "I'm so sorry, Zetsu – I shouldn't have yelled at you that day…"

"Get the fuck over it." Madara hissed before kicking the back of Pein's knee and sending the younger male tumbling to the ground. He smirked as the ginger landed on top of Zetsu.

Zetsu's breathing immediately quickened seconds before he begun to hyperventilate.

"N-no…" Zetsu whimpered as tears spilt down his cheeks. He screamed and lashed out.

"Zetsu, stop!" Pein exclaimed. He tried to hold the boy still before he got hurt, but Zetsu was blinded by memories. "It's alright, Zetsu! Calm down!"

Zetsu didn't calm down – he got worse. Madara stood off to the side, smirking. Tobi was squealing in fright. The little boy had never seen his friend like this before and it scared him. Konan was trying to bring Zetsu to reality while Pein tried to hold him still.

"Zetsu, shh…" Konan soothed, rubbing Zetsu's cheek. "Shh… Relax… Take deep breaths, Zetsu… It's just us…"

"_Get off!" _Zetsu screamed.** "No! Stop it! Stop it!"**

"Zetsu…"

"Leave him be." Madara said calmly. He walked off with Tobi in his arms before calling over his shoulder, "He needs to grow up if he wants to survive in this organisation."

Pein snarled to himself – how _dare _Madara treat Zetsu as he were nothing? If it were Tobi in the boy's position, Madara would be trying his best to make sure that Tobi was okay. What a fucking _hypocrite!_

**-XX-**

Zetsu had only calmed down when his mind had shut off in a final attempt to protect the boy. Pein shook his head before picking Zetsu up and carrying him towards the cave. He formed the hand-signs Madara had shown him and stepped through once the entrance was revealed.

Konan walked silently beside him, her face emotionless. Pein was too occupied with Zetsu at the minute to really want to take in his new surroundings.

"Where do we put him?" Pein whispered to Konan as they reached the door labelled with 'bedroom hallway'.

"Dunno… Let's look around."

Pein nodded. He followed Konan in the hallway, hoping that the doors were labelled as well. His wishes were fulfilled when he spotted a day labelled 'Zetsu + Tobi'.

"In here." Pein instructed Konan. He detoured to the right and pushed the door open.

They were met with a small roomed that housed two beds, a desk, a closet and personal bathroom. One bed was pushed up against the far wall just under the large window while the other bed was on the other side of the room. The desk was in between both beds while the closet was on the wall opposite. The door to the bathroom was beside it.

A few of Tobi's most precious toys were littered along the floor. Pein knew that Madara would have brought them along beforehand. The teddy that Zetsu had bought for the boy as a birthday present was sitting upon the bed that was under the window.

They stepped into the room and laid Zetsu down on the other bed. They watched him for a few seconds more before leaving to find their own room.

"Here." Konan whispered before pulling Pein to a door that was marked with their names.

They found that they had a rather large room to themselves. There was a double bed, another desk and personal bathroom. They had a walk-in closet, a television and a large window that took up the entire left wall. If their room was this big, they wondered how big Madara's was – egotistical bastard…

"Not bad." Pein mumbled as he moved to sit on the bed. He frowned. Well, this was now home…

**-XX-**

The first night was hard for Zetsu and Tobi. Tobi had been frightened by all of the noises outside of the cave that were audible, thanks for the window, and Zetsu was unable to sleep, depressed by everything that had happened. As far as he was concerned, the only home he had was the one back with Pein and Konan.

Zetsu's lack of sleep was obvious the next morning at breakfast. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a small muffin that was sitting in a container on the bench. He said hello to Pein, Konan, Tobi and the blue man at the table before walking through the archway into the living room. He didn't even realise that there _had _been a _blue _man at the table.

Pein and Konan laughed loudly while the newcomer chuckled. He left the kitchen and followed Zetsu. He stood before the plant-nin as Zetsu sat down on the old, flea-bitten couch that Madara had drug in.

"Hey." The man said with a toothy grin, amused at how this was playing out.

"Hey." Zetsu greeted as he chomped on his muffin quietly.

"What's up?"

"_Eating… You?"_

The blue man laughed, amused by Zetsu's lack of concentration. Rows of sharp, serrated teeth showed. Zetsu jumped at the sudden outburst, only just realising that he was talking to a shark of a stranger.

Zetsu screamed. "PEIN! PEIN!"

There was more laughter from the kitchen again. Zetsu ran towards Pein's voice. He jumped onto the man's lap, hugging the elder close as he shivered.

"Pein, there's a _shark _in the living room!"

"That's Kisame, Zetsu." Pein smiled. "He's going to live with us from now on, okay?"

"O… Okay…"

"And Kakuzu is around here somewhere. They arrived last night when you were in bed."

"_Why are they here...?"_

"We talked about this, remember, Zetsu? About the Akatsuki. They're members of the Akatsuki now, and so are you."

"..."

Pein smiled. The rift that had been created by Pein's angry outburst between them had been lifted.


	11. Chapter 11

"Zetsu, will you come here for a minute, please?" Pein called to the boy a few days later.

Zetsu happily ran to Pein, beaming as he thought of how he could please the man today. "_Yes, Pein?"_

Pein chuckled. He patted Zetsu's head. "Well, your birthday is in a couple of days… What would you like for your birthday?"

"_Can we have _**anything?" **

"Yes, Zetsu."

"Then we want you." Both voices said simultaneously.

Pein frowned. "Zetsu, we've been over this…"

"_B-but… You said that we could have anything…"_

Pein knelt down next to Zetsu. He picked the boy up and carried him into his room. He closed the door behind him and locked it, placing Zetsu on the bed.

"Zetsu, look…" Pein started, trying to word his sentence properly. "…I know that I said you can have anything, but… Zetsu, let's make a deal, okay?"

"Deal?"

"How about… on your birthday, instead of having all of me, you're happy with a kiss?"

"**A kiss?"**

"Yes. Zetsu, I know how much you want to have sex, but you're only a child. How about this – you can have all of me for your sixteenth birthday present, okay?"

Zetsu did the maths in his head. "So… _that's only two years from now? …We'll do it!"_

Zetsu hugged Pein, so happy that the elder was finally allowing him to have something he so desperately wanted.

Pein hugged back. He couldn't say that he was happy about agreeing to this, but he wanted Zetsu to be happy.

"Go to sleep now, Zetsu." Pein whispered as he kissed Zetsu's forehead. "I want you to go on your first mission tomorrow, okay?"

Zetsu nodded with a yawn. He squeezed Pein a little tighter before releasing the elder. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, allowing the darkness to take over. He was vaguely aware of Madara entering the room and putting Tobi into bed before he entered the dream world.

**-XX-**

"_This doesn't seem right." _Shiroi said as he went over the mission scroll again. _"I don't think that this is the right place… _** Of course it's the right place! Pein wouldn't like to us – you **_**know **_**that! **_I-I know he wouldn't, but… Pein gets the missions from Madara, and want if _**– Pein would know if Madara was up to something! Don't speak ill about Pein!"**

Shiroi sighed. Kuroi had too much faith in Pein and wouldn't accept the fact that the ginger couldn't always protect them.

As Zetsu sat on the ground for a rest, he took some onigiri from his pack. He munched on it quietly as he surveyed his surroundings. A familiar chakra spike soon caught his attention. He jumped to his feet as Madara approached him from behind.

"M-madara…" Zetsu mumbled. He didn't like the fact that he was alone with his rapist.

Madara pursed his lips, tutting. "Tsk. You should be more respectful with your elders, Zetsu… Pein forgot to give these to you."

Madara held out a syringe, but unfortunately, Zetsu only realised that there was a liquid in them when it was too late – when Madara had stabbed him in the neck with the syringe and injected the fluid.

Zetsu squealed, trying to jump away, but his body was getting too heavy for him to hold up. He felt himself fall to the ground, a horrible aching taking over his body. He heard Madara laugh and felt two more chakra signatures unveil themselves and approach him. He was even aware of someone picking him up and slinging him over their shoulder.

"Make sure that it doesn't fail." That was the last thing that Zetsu heard Madara say before blacking out.

**-XX-**

Zetsu moaned as he woke with a horrible headache.

"Awake already, eh?"

Zetsu jumped at the voice – it didn't sound familiar at all.

"That's okay – Madara-sama paid us a lot of money to do this… He would have loved to do it himself, but he said that it would have seemed too suspicious for him to disappear every day once you had gone missing. Don't worry – we're not going to hurt you… We just want to… show you some stuff…"

Zetsu growled weakly as he felt hands grab him under his armpits and lift him into the air. There was laughter, but the dim light prevented him from seeing who was laughing. He tried to speak but he was still muddled up from the drugging, unable to form a coherent sentence. He desperately wanted to know what was happening and why he was here, but all he could gather was that it was Madara's doing.

The person who was carrying Zetsu unlocked a steel door and entered. Zetsu was hit with the horrid stench of rotting bodies. He gagged at the smell, feeling bile rise. He didn't even try to stop it as he vomited. The people who were with him laughed before dropping him to the ground. Now that there was more sufficient lighting, he could make out that were two people with him – both males and wearing a mask to stop them from smelling the stench.

"Madara-sama said that his new organisation needed something to get rid of evidence, and he said that a cannibal would be perfect for disposing of bodily evidence. He chose you, Zetsu, as his little garbage disposal. Now you're going to learn to love the taste of humans. If you don't… Well, Madara-sama said to _dispose _of you."

**-XX-**

Pein paced around the living room anxiously, almost tripping over Tobi for the fourth time in as many minutes. It was the seventh day of Zetsu's absence but the child should have returned three days ago. No one had been able to find him, either.

"Pein, are you alright?" Konan whispered, touching Pein on the arm in an attempt to calm him.

Pein nodded. He didn't want to concern Konan more than she already was. "I'm fine, Konan… I'm just… thinking of other things…"

"No, you're not…" Konan knew that Pein was lying. "You're worried about Zetsu, and you're still hurt from the beating that Madara gave you for losing him… I can read you like an open book…"

Pein sighed and nodded. "You're right, Konan… I'm sorry for lying to you… Forgive me."

Konan smiled weakly at Pein. "We'll find Zetsu again, Pein – I promise. I've sent my paper butterflies searching for him. None of them have returned, so there's no one else in the area. Perhaps he just got lost…"

Pein nodded. He looked down at Tobi who was currently tugging on the hem of his pants. "What is it, Tobi?"

"W-when Z-z-zuzu c-come back?" Tobi whimpered. "T-tobi miss ZuZu."

"I'm… I'm not sure, Tobi… But he's okay." Pein smiled feebly at the child, knowing that he couldn't understand why Zetsu had suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth.

If any of them had paid attention to Madara's chakra signature in the hallway, they would have seen him smirking, a letter and money in hand.


	12. Chapter 12

It had taken six months for just one tiny hint as to Zetsu's whereabouts to pop up. Kisame had just finished his mission and was returning to the base. The closer he got to the base, the more he could sense Madara's chakra along with an unfamiliar one. He masked his own chakra as he curiously approached the Uchiha and his comrade.

"It's going better than planned," the unfamiliar chakra's owner spoke with a hint of malice in his voice. "There's only one problem."

"And what might that be?" Madara's cruel voice answered back.

"He's gotten pretty aggressive and gets out of control easily. He's already injured my friend and almost took my whole arm off – if you're planning on collecting him soon, you may want to watch out – he's very unpredictable."

Kisame approached the voices while keeping out of sight. What were they talking about?

"I don't care how unpredictable he is – so long as Zetsu is doing as trained, he can be as psycho as he wants to be."

"What about your nephew?"

"What about him?"

"Won't he be in danger?"

"No. Worst comes to worst and I'll keep Tobi separated permanently. I need him for this organisation to be safe."

Kisame had heard all that he needed to know that they were talking about Zetsu. Pein and Konan were sick from worrying about the plant-nin, so he hurried back to the base with the full intent of telling them everything that he had heard.

**-XX-**

"And that's what I heard." Kisame finished relaying what he knew to Pein and Konan.

Pein finally looked up from his paperwork with a look in his eyes that Kisame had never seen on him before – hopelessness and despair mixed with exhaustion.

"So what are we supposed to do if Madara's behind it all…?" Pein mumbled.

Kisame hated seeing Pein like this – it just didn't fit the younger male at all. Pein was young and normally full of spirit, but this Pein didn't seem interested in life at all.

"Pein0sama?" Kisame asked with a softer tone. "Are you alright?"

Pein nodded. "I'm fine, Kisame-kun… But you didn't answer my question…"

Konan shook her head. "Pein, look… Kisame doesn't know about any of this, okay? He was only trying to help. Thank you, Kisame, for telling us."

Kisame bowed. "Anytime, Konan-sama. If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."

Konan smiled again, dismissing Kisame. Her kind gaze turned stern when Kisame left the room.

"Pein," Konan growled as she looked back at the male, "I know how Madara treats you and I know that you are scared of him, but hasn't this gone far enough? Show some balls and stand up to Madara! If not for yourself, but for Zetsu!"

Pein shook his head timidly. "N-no, Konan… I don't want to –"

"So you don't care about Zetsu anymore, Pein?" Konan said, all seriousness in her voice. She shook her head sadly before turning her back on him and walking to the door. "If you don't care about Zetsu anymore, how do you ever expect to keep this organisation together for very long? Abandoning Zetsu – who had only ever showed and loyalty to you – is _wrong, _Pein, and you _know _it."

Konan walked out of the office, making sure to slam the door behind her.

Pein didn't even seem to notice that Konan had left. "I… I'm not abandoning him… I just… don't know what to do…"

**-XX-**

Zetsu lay on the cold stone floor, chained to the wall. He flinched before snarling as light flooded onto his face when the door was opened. He looked up angrily, growling at the people who had put him through hell and back. This time, though, there was an extra person with them. The second that Zetsu saw Madara's face, hatred seeped throughout his body.

Zetsu threw himself onto his feet and charged with a feral snarl at Madara – only to choke himself as the chain tightened around his neck. He fell to the ground, choking.

Madara laughed and leant down next to Zetsu. He poked at the iron muzzle that had been put around Zetsu's mouth. He admired its creativity – only able to be removed with a key.

"Very smart of you," Madara commented as he grabbed a key from one of the kidnappers. He used it to unlock the chains that kept Zetsu's body weighed down. "I'll take him now. You've done such a wonderful job – I might just have to give you my darling nephew to turn into a killing machine."

The two men laughed. "We'd be honoured to train an Uchiha, Madara-sama."

Madara smirked, throwing Zetsu up onto his shoulder. He left the one place that Zetsu had known for months.

**-XX-**

When Madara returned back to the base with Zetsu in tow, he decided to play the hero, seeing as no one knew that he was behind Zetsu's disappearance.

"Hey, look at what I found!" Madara shouted to the base.

Kisame and Kakuzu, who were already in the living room, looked up from their game of shouji. Pein and Konan entered seconds later.

Konan gasped and ran to Madara before grabbing the sleeping Zetsu into her hold. She hugged him. Pein looked stunned as he stood there frozen, not moving an inch. He was in shock – why would Madara bring Zetsu back to the base when he was the one who had gotten rid of him?

Kakuzu and Kisame glared at Madara – Kisame had told the Taki-nin about what he had overheard. Kakuzu had been disgusted with the Uchiha ever since. He had taken an apparent dislike to Tobi as well ever since the news, having been seen threatening the young boy with death for no reason.

Madara smirked at them – the two knew that he was the real leader and that if they dared say anything to him, it could cost them their lives.

Konan, who had been hugging Zetsu – almost crying in relief – didn't seem to notice the muzzle just yet – not until Zetsu had woken up and was snarling viciously. She looked at the boy in confusion before pulling away from him and staring at him.

Konan gasped. "What the hell? Zetsu! Oh, baby, what did they do to you?"

Zetsu snapped at her fingers, baring his teeth as he snarled. Konan got a good look at them as he did this. She gasped louder at the sight of them – it looked as if someone had ground his teeth down into sharp canines.

"Zetsu…" Konan mumbled sadly. She instantly knew that it wasn't safe just yet to free him of the degrading custom-made muzzle.

Zetsu's eyes instantly snapped up to meet her gaze at the sound of her voice. His eyes looked like a sea of emotion – no, a sea wasn't accurate enough… A storm, maybe? Yes, a storm of emotions. His eyes held the emotions of anger, hatred and pain, but also depression and fear.

"Konan…?" Zetsu whispered. His eyes filled with tears before he hid his face in her chest and sobbed.

"Zetsu… Shh..." Konan soothed, rubbing calming circles into his back.

This must have been hard for him – whatever he had gone through. Knowing Madara, it would have been something full of pain, humiliation – and something to _fear._

Konan couldn't have hated Madara more than she did right now. That was all she knew for certain.


	13. Chapter 13

It had been discovered that same night that Zetsu was simply too dangerous to be un-muzzled around Tobi when the two were alone.

Pein had tucked the green-haired boy into bed before leaving to get his own rest. As Zetsu lay awake for hours, lost in depression, Madara entered the room with Tobi.

"Have a great sleep, Tobi." Madara whispered as he lowered the young boy into the bed. He pulled the covers over his tiny frame before leaning down to ruffle some of Tobi's hair.

"Tobi love…" Tobi broke off for a yawn. "…Love Uncle M-madara…"

Madara smiled at his nephew before standing up straight and turning to glare at Zetsu. He growled softly before approaching the boy. He leant down when he was near enough to whisper into the younger's ear.

"If you do one thing to Tobi…" Madara snarled. "…I'll cut your balls off and make you eat them before I shove my foot so far up your ass, you'll be shitting up shoelace for the rest of your life."

Zetsu whimpered and rolled onto his side. He hated Madara with a passion. He would've loved nothing more than to rip Madara's throat out with his teeth and spit on the mangled corpse, but he knew that he couldn't do anything with Tobi in the room.

Madara smirked and got back to his feet. "Good… We're in agreement. Fucking disgrace…"

Zetsu closed his eyes, willing himself to ignore Madara – it would only lead to more trouble if he attacked the older Uchiha. He watched as the long-haired man left the room until light footsteps from the other side of the room caught his attention. Tobi was trying to walk towards him.

"N-no, Tobi…" Zetsu whispered, trying to shoo Tobi away. _"Go back to b-bed!"_

"Tobi m-miss ZuZu-kun!" Tobi exclaimed as he jumped the rest of the way to the elder. He wrapped his arms around Zetsu's waist. He hadn't heard Zetsu's quiet warning.

Zetsu growled as he bit down on Tobi's neck. He shook his head back and forth as the Uchiha squealed loudly. The little boy pushed at his face as he screamed loud enough to draw in the adults.

"Zetsu, stop!" Pein shouted as he ran in and tried to pull the boy away from Tobi.

"_You little bastard!" _Madara screamed. He grabbed a kunai and shoved it down into Zetsu's shoulder.

Zetsu yelped. He let go of Tobi and went for Madara instead. Pein grabbed him and held him still as Konan muzzled him again. Tobi was on the ground, crying and screaming from pain and fright. Madara picked his nephew up and hurried out of the room, fuming.

Kisame and Kakuzu were in the doorway, stunned at the events. Pein pulled Zetsu onto his lap and held him tightly, rocking him back and forth as he tried to shush Zetsu.

"**P-pein…"** Zetsu sobbed, holding the ginger tightly. _"Pein…!"_

"Konan…" Pein whispered. "What do I do…?"

Konan shrugged as tears spilt from her eyes. "I don't know… Try and relax him…"

Pein nodded. He reached up to stroke Zetsu's head as well. The boy leant into his touch, wanting all of the comfort he could get. Konan watched as he soothed Zetsu with his voice and hands. The woman soon had to leave because she couldn't control her tears.

"Zetsu… Hush…" Pein whispered. He shifted Zetsu so that the boy's chest was pressed against his own. He wrapped his arms around the boy's frame and kissed his head gently. A thought struck his mind as he rested his forehead in Zetsu's oily hair. "Hey… Zetsu…"

"Mmm?"

"You missed your birthday, remember? So… You never got your birthday present…"

With this, Pein tilted Zetsu's head up gently and placed his lips against the boy's. Zetsu's eyes widened before he relaxed and wrapped his arms around Pein's neck.

Pein smiled into the kiss. He sensed that Zetsu had calmed down. He laid the boy down on the bed and climbed on top of him. They soon broke the kiss for air.

"**Pein…" **Zetsu panted, smiling at the older man. "…Thank you…"

Pein smirked. "For what?"

"For… _ For loving us."_

Pein kissed Zetsu once more, long and hard. "That's what I'm supposed to do, Zetsu."

**-XX-**

Zetsu had been dangerous and hard to control ever since he had been brought back home. Now, almost two years later, he was just like his old self – happy and playful. Tobi had been afraid of him for a while after the biting incident, but he seemed to have put it behind him and never left Zetsu's side once more.

Tobi's seventh birthday had already passed. Tobi was walking properly and didn't stutter as often. Zetsu's sixteenth birthday was just a few weeks away and he made sure that Pein remembered the promise that they had made. To his glee, the ginger did.

In the space of two years, two new members had joined; Akasuna Sasori and Orochimaru. Sasori was quiet and often locked himself in his room so Zetsu didn't really know him, but Orochimaru terrified him. He was sure that it had been because he was molested Tobi on several occasions.

Right now, Zetsu was on a mission with Pein. Zetsu was excited to be alone with him.

"_Pein, guess what?" _Zetsu asked happily as they sat down and rested for the afternoon.

"What?" Pein smiled.

"**We mastered Mayfly already, Pein.** _Yeah!"_

Pein grinned as he patted Zetsu's head affectionately. "Great work, Zetsu-kun. Now that you have your Jutsu, can you begin training Tobi, please?"

"_Of course, Pein."_

"Good boy, Zetsu." Pein chuckled.

Zets pouted at Pein's words and slapped the elder's hand away before smiling again. He leant forward and captured Pein's lips with his own. They kissed for a while, feeling each other's body beneath their hands, but Pein wouldn't allow the younger underneath his clothes.

"Don't ruin your birthday present." Pein chuckled, amused by the look of betrayal on Zetsu's face.

Zetsu relaxed again before smiling. _"Oh, yeah."_

Pein pointed to the bulge in Zetsu's pants. "What are you going to do about that?"

"**Oh! Be right **_back!"_

Zetsu jumped out of the small camp site and ran into the forest. He unzipped his pants and stroked his hard member, pretending that it was Pein.

"Pein…" Zetsu moaned as he masturbated slowly. He carefully added three fingers into his opening, impaling himself and thrusting the digits deep inside of him. He called out Pein's name numerous times until he came, dirtying his hand and clothes.

Zetsu sighed in content. He got to his feet and walked back to the campsite. He knew that Pein would help clean him up. He couldn't wait for his birthday present.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N There were originally two other chapters before this one, but I have decided to leave them out. I felt that they just didn't do anything for the plot. This is the last chapter, and it contains your lemon.**

**This one is also unedited due to the fact that I am desperate to repost what was taken down, but I have been extremely busy with life lately.**

-TWO YEARS LATER-

Zetsu twirled the kunai in his hands slowly as he studied the surrounding area. He was sitting atop the Akatsuki base, his legs dangling over the edge, thinking.

"**Any ideas? **…_No_…" Zetsu whispered to himself. **"…"**

"Zetsu?"

Zetsu looked down to find Konan standing in the entrance way of the base, looking sad.

"Come inside, please… There is something we must tell you…"

Zetsu tilted his head in confusion before obeying the older woman, following her into the base and into his room. Konan gestured for him to sit, and as he did, tears leaked from Konan's eyes.

"Konan?" Zetsu asked, worry in his voice - he loved Konan dearly. _"Are you alright?"_

Konan shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, Zetsu… but Madara is sending Tobi away to be trained…"

Zetsu gasped. "W-what!"

"I-it's the same method that was used on you, and… Tobi may not survive the ordeal…"

With that, Zetsu burst into tears and ran from the room. He ignored Konan as she called for him to come back but he didn't listen; there was only one person he wanted to be with right now; Pein.

"Pein-sama!" Zetsu called as he ran through the base, searching desperately for his leader. **"Where are you?"**

"Zetsu."

Zetsu stopped as Pein's voice sounded from behind him.

"…"

"_Pein…" _

"…So Konan told you?" Pein leant down to hug the smaller man. "I am so very sorry, Zetsu-kun… I couldn't stop him…"

"_I hate him so much, Pein!" _Zetsu sobbed, holding Pein as if he were afraid of losing him too. **"Madara, we mean! We fucking **_**hate him! **__How could he do this, Pein! How! _**Why does he do it! Why is he so cruel?"**

Pein frowned and stroked Zetsu's hair. "Zetsu, you must understand that Madara has had a very… terrible life."

"We don't care!" Zetsu screamed angrily. _"Who cares what has happened to that monster! _**All that matters is that he's getting worse!"**

"Zetsu…" Pein didn't know what to say. Yes, he hated Madara himself, but he also felt sorry for him. "Zetsu, please listen to me… What Madara does is _not _his fault. He was abused as a child and had to shoulder the burden of murder as a mere toddler. Then to have to lead his clan when he was but a young child… Madara has seen a lot of things no child should have to see. All he knows is pain and hatred. He… doesn't know _how _to be gentle, or to be kind."

Zetsu shook his head. "It doesn't matter… _Tobi is gone, Pein…"_

Pein hugged Zetsu tighter before an idea struck his head. "Zetsu, you're eighteen now… I know you still want to… you know…" Pein blushed.

Zetsu nodded sadly; he needed something to take his mind off of Tobi. He followed Pein into his bedroom, sitting on the bed and waiting patiently for Pein.

Pein was standing before the bed, slowly lifting his shirt over his head before leaning down to kiss Zetsu gently. Zetsu allowed the kiss, but he was really too upset to enjoy it. Pein frowned, hugging Zetsu tightly.

"Zetsu…" Pein whispered, rubbing his back.

Zetsu hiccupped, burying his face in Pein's chest. He hugged back but Pein knew that Zetsu really wasn't into it right now; he was missing Tobi already.

"Zetsu, if you don't want to, we don't have to…" Pein explained softly.

Zetsu shook his head. "…We want to, Pein…"

**The lemon has been taken off and will be placed on adultfanfiction when I get a chance.**


End file.
